Stewart’s limping walk is a constant reminder of the violent crash last August during a sprint car race on an Iowa dirt track that left him with two fractured bones in the lower right leg. Stewart missed the final 15 dates of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, including a date at TMS, because of the injuries.

That Stewart has returned to Cup racing in the No. 14 Chevrolet of his Stewart-Haas Racing operation speaks to his grit. Every lap is painful.

That Stewart has two top-five finishes in the last three races heading into Sunday’s Duck Commander 500 is not surprising. The crash damaged Stewart’s leg but did not take away from his immense driving skills.

“Surprisingly enough, it’s not felt like I’ve been gone that long,” Stewart said Friday. “In a really good way, that’s something I’ve been excited about. It doesn’t feel like it’s been eight months.”

How far Stewart can take this is a question that will linger all season. Can he win a Cup race for the 16th consecutive season? Will he qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup? Is he a title contender again?

It is one thing to ask a young driver to bounce back from a significant injury. It is another thing altogether for Stewart to try this at age 42.

Elite racers such as Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip went into lengthy down periods after being injured in their 40s. Earnhardt had 45 consecutive winless races after breaking the sternum in a wreck at Talladega Superspeedway in 1996 at age 45. Waltrip won only five races in his final 251 career Cup starts after incurring a concussion and breaking his left arm in a wreck during practice at Daytona in 1990 at age 44.

The irascible Stewart would prefer that everyone stop asking about his welfare. He may not be fully recovered from the injury, but that will not stop him.

“Honestly, there hasn’t been one day or night where I’ve sat and questioned whether it’s what I wanted to do or whether it was something I could do,” Stewart said. “It was just, ‘When can I do it?’ I just want to be 100 percent, and we’re pushing toward that.

“The passion and the desire for the sport, that’s never wavered. That’s what gets you through of this stuff. … Hopefully, we’ll be able to talk a year from now about how far we have come.”

A.J. Foyt expects Stewart to make it all the way back. Foyt, the guiding light to Stewart’s career, went through several horrific wrecks in his open-wheel and NASCAR careers. The crashes took a toll on Foyt’s body but not his resolve.

“I don’t think it’s going to affect him,” Foyt said. “Tony’s a racer. He might limp or be crippled, but look at me. It never affected me.

“Tony isn’t going to settle for second or third. Tony will run just as hard for a dollar as he would for a million dollars. I think that’s why him and I have become friends. … You have to respect Tony for what he is doing.”

The season started poorly for Stewart, with two finishes out of the top 30 in the first three races. He started to get back into a groove with a fourth-place finish on the short track at Bristol Motor Speedway and followed by placing fifth on the two-mile oval of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. A track-position gamble last week at Martinsville Speedway did not hit, and Stewart finished 17th.

Whatever frustration Stewart experienced at Martinsville was chased away by a victory by SHR teammate Kurt Busch. Stewart conceded, “I have enough stuff to concentrate on making four cars go fast” in his role of owner, but the extra job has its perks.

“That’s the whole point of having multicar teams, to help everybody,” Stewart said. “You’re just as excited for your teammates, especially when you own part of the team.”

The SHR team has had a good-news, bad-news season to date.

Through six races, it is the only team with two wins and two drivers — Kevin Harvick and Busch —who are likely to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. None of the four teams has been consistently good. Stewart ranks 15th in points, followed by Busch (20th), Harvick (25th) and Danica Patrick (29th.)

Stewart puts more stock in the wins. SHR went through a demanding off-season after adding Busch and Harvick. To be competitive, Stewart said, is a reward.

“Our cars have speed,” Stewart said. “It’s just a matter of putting it all together.”

At all other times, Stewart is in charge. The downtime because of the injury taught Stewart the importance of listening and absorbing information. He rarely speaks during SHR competition meetings, preferring to let everyone else contribute and taking it from there.

Harvick gained insight into Stewart before the season. During a trip to Las Vegas, Harvick sat with Stewart for several hours in a casino’s roulette table. It was an eye-opening experience for Harvick.

“I learned he’s just short of Rain Man,” said Harvick, referring to the Dustin Hoffman savant character from the movie. “He listens to everything you say, takes it all in. I know I’m going to say something, and he’s going to remember it and six weeks down the road say, ‘Remember when you said this? Why did you think this today?’”

The team-owner stuff is still new to Stewart. The racing is old hat, bum leg and all.

For the long haul

A look at the most consecutive years with a Sprint Cup victory in NASCAR history:

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.